Exactly one year ago today, the prospect of Dirk Nowitzki becoming the sixth player in NBA history to hit 30,000 points was simply a matter of when, not if.

Go back nearly 20 years ago, and the idea that the lanky 20 year old from Germany with blinding blonde hair and an earring in his left ear would someday reach 30,000 points seemed like a pipe dream at best.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who bought the team during Nowitzki's second season, echoed those sentiments.

"Honestly, before I bought the team and started paying attention, I thought he was just another big white guy from Europe that Nellie brought in," Cuban said. "Then you started watching and realized he was something special."

The 2016-17 season was anything but something special for the Mavericks. The injury bug bit veteran Mavericks hard, claiming victims in J.J. Barea, Devin Harris, Andrew Bogut and even Nowitzki, who missed much of the first two months with an Achilles injury.

The Mavs entered the All-Star break sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference. Nowitzki was 93 points away from 30,000.

What follows is a description of the events leading up to the historic night on March 7, 2017, at the American Airlines Center and the celebration afterward, in the words of those most closely involved.

Anticipation builds

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki closes in on 30,000 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News )

After a 100-95 loss in Atlanta on March 1, the Mavericks returned for a five-game homestand. Nowitzki was 48 points away from the big milestone. Two games in, following a win against the Thunder on Sunday, March 5, Nowitzki was 20 points away. A Tuesday matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers loomed.

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks forward: After the All-Star break, I remember I didn't play well. I came off rusty off the break, didn't shoot the ball well. Everybody was thinking this was going to happen long before but I had a couple of low-scoring nights. Even the game before [vs. Thunder], I was in there a lot on the fourth [quarter] and I was trying to score so I didn't need as much anymore, but it just wasn't happening. I wasn't making any shots. So, leading up to it, I didn't really know what to expect.

Rick Carlisle, Mavericks head coach: A lot of anticipation. Everybody wanted it to happen, get it over with. I know Dirk had people in town during that stretch and so that put a little added meaning to that one particular game.

J.J. Barea, Mavericks guard: I think that was a point that we really could reflect on his career and everything that he's done, and we were able to be a part of it. We enjoyed it. We enjoyed everything leading up to it and when it happened. We were able to really celebrate his career that night, and leading up to it, and after it, so it was pretty good.

Devin Harris, former Mavericks guard now with the Denver Nuggets: We wanted to get it done at home. I know that's something we really talked about and the closer we got, obviously you could see the nervousness in his face. I think he had family in town, friends in town so it was a lot of pressure to get it done on that homestand.

Morning shootaround

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Tuesday home games are usually "T-shirt Tuesdays" when the Mavs leave free shirts for fans on every seat. This time, it was a big brown shirt with 30K across the front in white block letters. Through the middle of that was an image of Nowitzki, shooting his signature one-legged fadeaway. The Mavs had their usual morning shootaround at the AAC.

Nowitzki: I came out here for shootaround, I see the 30K shirts, I wasn't happy about it, wasn't thrilled. I thought 20 points was a lot to get, so I texted some of our employees and was like, "Hey, I don't really want this." Their answer was, "Look, if you don't get it, we'll [play] it as 30K week and eventually you're going to break it so don't feel pressure. Just go out and have some fun and if it doesn't happen, fans can wear the shirt again the next night and maybe if you need it, another night. So, just see it as that and enjoy it." So, I said OK, leave them there and [we'll] see what happens.

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

A Dallas Mavericks fan displays a sign following Dirk Nowitzki's 30,000 point accomplishment against the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)

Harris: I remember the morning of the game, we talked about I wanted to be the guy passing the ball. The way he started the game, as hot as he did and as aggressive as he did, probably should have done that more often than not but it was an exciting time.

Barea: Nobody was really talking about it. Everybody knew about it, but nobody really wanted to talk about it.

Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner: Dirk was pissed that morning because we had Dirk 30K handouts, and he thought it was going to jinx him. And Erin [Finegold] was coming to me, saying, "Dirk doesn't want the 30K things out on the stands," because he was all nervous that it would jinx him.

Carlisle: That night we didn't have [J.J] Barea, we didn't have D-Will, so it was Yogi [Ferrell] and [Devin] Harris the guys that needed to spoon-feed him to get him shots. They did a very good job of that. Devin had been talking for three months about wanting to be the guy to make the assist on the 30,000th point, so we ran a simple play where he would basically come down and throw it in the post and presumably, Dirk would knock the shot down and we wouldn't have to hear about it anymore, and that's what happened.

The hot start

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

In front of his own bench, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) shoots and makes his 30,000 point against Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. (7) in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News )

Thirty seconds into the game, Mavs guard Seth Curry found Nowitzki on the left wing. Bottom of the net, and Nowitzki was off to the races. Thirty seconds later, Nowitzki stood dead center behind the arc, where Ferrell found him. Swish. When Nowitzki checked out at the 6:28 mark of the first quarter, he was 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line for 14 points. He finished the opening period with 18 points, two shy of 30,000.

Nowitzki: The buzz was crazy that night. The buzz was absolutely crazy. The first play I remember, Coach [Carlisle] drew up for me to pop to the elbow on the empty side - screen and roll - and I saw a little daylight, shot the ball and it went in. Then it was kind of like in a zone from there. The next offensive [possession], I get a trail three - sort of contested, any other night I don't shoot that - but since I had just made one, I wanted to go for it and I wanted to see. After that went, it was on after that. I felt in a great groove and the guys kept feeding me - I made another three at the top of the key. It was an amazing night. Obviously when I made the first shot, I felt a buzz in the crowd, some fans didn't even sit down anymore. I'll never forget that night, or that day for the rest of my life.

Barea: That's him. He lives for big moments. He loves the big moments and that was a big moment because there was a lot of attention on him that night, and he delivered pretty quick.

Harris: Vintage Dirk. We haven't seen him be that aggressive in years but you could tell he wanted it and just the way he started the game and the contested shots that he hit, there was no doubt that was going to be the game.

Cuban: Bam, bam, bam, he was just knocking down everything. That just made it all the more special, knowing how nervous he was going in.

'Punch' and the shot drops

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

In front of his own bench, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) shoots and makes his 30,000 point against Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. (7) in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News )

Nowitzki came out of the second period aggressive, taking an 18-foot shot within the first 10 seconds. It was an air ball. Less than a minute later, the Mavs ran a play for Nowitzki once again. In front of the Mavs bench, he squared up Larry Nance Jr. and hit a shot over him on the baseline, becoming the sixth player to hit 30,000 points.

Nowitzki: I was sitting on 18 at the end of the first quarter and I came out of the second quarter break and the first play was kind of called for me, it was cross-screen. I was sort of a little open and I shot it, and it was an air ball. Everybody was like [gasps] and I felt the disappointment. So, it was like hey, give it right back to me and on that play - it really was a simple play - it was called "Punch," we've ran it a million times. The guard just brings it up and I go on the low post and he just feeds me and lets me go to work. I thought, it's now or never, so I faced him up. He was kind of playing close but he kind of had one hand down and I was like, I'm just going to raise up and see what happens. They're going to feed me the ball 10 more times if I miss 10 more shots, I mean that's the kind of day it was. I'm just glad I got to face him up and made the shot. Then we got the stop on the other end, I shot that heat-check 3-pointer, that went in also off the dribble, then the place just went nuts. I remember obviously my teammates swarming me and jumping on me. It was a great feeling. One of the most special moments, probably for myself, in my career.

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) reacts after surpassing the 30,000 point mark against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News )

Barea: It was special. You've never been a part of something like that and to just be there and be his teammate and just to watch his face when he hit it, it was pretty good.

Harris: That's just an iso post up for Dirk. Just give him the ball and pretty much get the hell out of the way. Post up, he's sizing that guy up and as soon as I see the guy's head's down, I know the ball is going up. Those are the type of shots he hits at a high clip. You could tell in the moment, everybody was standing up, knowing it was the moment. It was just a great feeling for everybody.

Cuban: It was amazing. I remember running out there and trying to get to him faster than everybody else, to give him a big hug and high five him.

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrates with Dirk Nowitzki after his 30,000 point against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Dirk is only the 6th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News )

After-party at Nick and Sam's

Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) is congratulated by Dallas Mavericks teammates and owner Mark Cuban after surpassing the 30,000 point mark in his career during the second quarter of play at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

The Mavs played tribute videos at the arena throughout the remainder of the game, but the real party started later that night to celebrate Nowitzki's accomplishment.

Nowitzki: What I didn't know is that they had the after-party planned already at Nick and Sam's. I remember Fin [Michael Finley] came up to me - he usually never says anything - but he came up to me, the day before at practice and then that morning, he was like, "Hey, we need you to get 20 tonight." I was like, "Sure, I'm going to try." He was like, "No, I'm going to need you to get 20 tonight." What I didn't know is he had planned some of the postgame activities and the good thing was that after that day, we had like two or three days off. We didn't play until Friday so it was kind of perfect timing, relax a little bit and enjoy it. It was perfect timing. Some of my teammates came, they dug up some friends from way back that showed up and we had the entire bar there. It was great, I had a couple of glasses of wine and enjoyed the company, was talking about the stuff that had just happened that night. That was great, and then that night, I went home and I couldn't even sleep. I was still so hyped, I probably didn't sleep until 4 or 5 o'clock that night. [I was] just thinking about some stuff, thinking about how many players have done that out of I don't know how many thousands of players have come through this league. That was incredible. And then Holger [Geschwindner] was there and seeing him all emotional after the game and stuff... So yeah, it was an emotional day for me as well, and I'm glad I got to do it at home in front of our fans and got to celebrate it a little bit, as much as we could during the season with some of my friends and some of my teammates I've been close with for a long time. It was a special day for me and like I said, I'll never forget it.

Barea: It was great. Everybody was telling stories about him, for like an hour. It was a great night.

Harris: Dirk showed up really, really late. Everybody showed up, it was good. I think we had a couple of parties but it was a special feeling. Everybody kind of celebrating in the moment. It was a great team event for us.

Carlisle: That kind of accomplishment is staggering. At his age, to do that was remarkable. Every bit of celebrating that was done, there probably needed to be more. But then a year later, he's got 31,000. Hey, if he keeps playing, he'll be up to 32,000 points at some point.

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) is congratulated after making a two pointer over Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. (7) to score 30,000 points in his career during the second quarter of play at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)